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Barcelona: €603 million spent by Man City, and Pep’s still complaining

By Chiranjib Ghosh

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 25: Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City speaks during the press conference at Manchester City Football Academy on January 25, 2019 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Man City via Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 25: Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City speaks during the press conference at Manchester City Football Academy on January 25, 2019 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Man City via Getty Images) /
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What is former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola complaining about?

"“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” – Socrates"

When Barcelona president Joan Laporta turned to inexperienced Barça B manager Pep Guardiola to solve Barça’s trophy deficit, the club was heavily criticised. But the ex-Culé proved everyone wrong with a seemingly invincible and historically successful formula, La Masia.

Having graduated from the youth academy himself and coached its graduates, he was aware of their talent. In fact, many credit Guardiola with the careers of Sergio Busquets and Pedro, among others like Lionel Messi, who he turned into a virtual goal-machine.

But just like Oscar Wilde, Pep resisted everything but temptation. After spending 3 seasons in charge of a frugal Bayern Munich under the chairmanship of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, he joined oil-rich Manchester City.

Once Khaldoon Al Mubarak turned over all those funds to Pep Guardiola, he started spending more than any other club, with high-profile signings of all kinds. In fact, Manchester City are currently under the scanner for allegedly violating UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

But Pep Guardiola is still unhappy. He wants more. In his three seasons as City coach, the club has spent €603 million on transfers. When Pep was unhappy with the full-backs available to him, he sanctioned the spending of €140 million just to bring in replacements.

Virtually no club other than Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain cannot afford to splurge like that without any considerations. But despite being at one of the richest clubs in the club with almost unlimited spending power, Pep Guardiola wants even more, which is unlikely to satisfy him.

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"Guardiola said, “I said many times, Barcelona and Madrid it’s impossible to fight against them. For the prestige, the incredible league, the incredible clubs they are.The players have to take their own decisions. When they don’t want to come it’s because they want another place. There are other options and we are going to try if we believe we need players in that position.”"

Maybe Pep has realised the futility of money as a factor in influencing the decisions of players. But then, why would players like Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte join City when better clubs with more international standing were interested in them?

The old Pep Guardiola of Barcelona needs to come back. Manchester City has invested heavily in their youth academy, but players like Phil Foden need more opportunities. Brahim Díaz’s move to Real Madrid is indicative of Guardiola’s current youth policy.

Next. Should Barça go after Matthijs de Ligt?. dark

This is a sad turn of events in Pep’s career. The Barça legend who saw what no else could in La Masia is overseeing the departures of starlets like Brahim Díaz who see their futures lying away from the Spaniard.